Like me, you were probably instructed to change the oil in your automobile every 3,000 miles or so.

This was solid advice in the past but in today’s data driven world it is a woefully–pardon the pun–crude ground rule.

In the near future, instead of changing your oil every 3000 miles (which, by the way, is already an outdated idea that you probably want to unlearn) you will know–with the help of an array of inexpensive but sophisticated sensors in your car–precisely when the oil needs to be changed.

For example, depending upon the time of year, the age of your car and the type of driving you have been doing (i.e. urban streets; highway, etc.) you will know that one time you’ll need to swap out your oil at 6,711 miles but the next time you can wait until, say, 8,763 miles.

The benefit is that you will spend less money on oil changes while, at the same time, benefiting the environment because you’ll only use that amount of oil which is abolsutely necessary.

If, however, you change oil for a living or make money from selling people unnecessary oil changes, big data probably isn’t going to help lubricate your pockets.